Man and Whales

Thank you to all presenters, participants and sponsors for another successful lecture series! Information from this past season is listed below. Hope to see you again in 2013.

Thursdays: March 1, 15, 29, 2012

This series of lectures examined our changing views of marine mammals with science-themed lectures that brought focus to important whale conservation topics through the expertise of those who dedicate their professional lives to these issues. This year we investigated grand-scale illegal, industrial hunting of whales in the late 1930s, the balance between marine mammal safety and national security, and the evolution of the sense of smell in ancestral whales.

Each program will began with a reception in the Jacobs Family Gallery at 6:30 pm, followed by a lecture in the Cook Memorial Theater at 7:30 pm.

Writer and editor Peter Capelotti, U.S. Coast Guard Reserve and Penn State, presents "The Whaling Expedition of the Ulysses 1937-38." In the spring of 1937, Coast Guard Lieutenant Quentin Robert Walsh received a special assignment aboard the whaling factory ship Ulysses: to monitor the commercial operation's compliance with international agreements protecting marine life. This extraordinary adventure in which Walsh played diplomat, international inspector and military policeman permitted him to witness an unprecedented slaughter of whales. His report became the most detailed account on the actual hunting and killing of pelagic whales. Capelotti edited Lt. Walsh's report and turned this incredible story into an extraordinary book that was published in 2010. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing.

Thursday, March 15

Dr. Stephen J. Godfrey, Curator of Paleontology, Calvert Marine Museum, presents "When Whales Walked the Earth: Fossil Whales and Olfactory Evolution." Marine science has long assumed that sea creatures like whales have no need for a sense of smell. While this is likely true for some, it is now known not to be the case for extant baleen whales. The discovery of a partial skull of a 40 million year old whale sent Dr. Godfrey on an unexpected quest to explain how and why the sense of smell has evolved in some whales but not in others.

Thursday, March 29

Captain Stacy Pedrozo, USN, C.O., Naval Justice School and Captain Tom Fetherston, USN (retired), present "Whose Homeland Security Is It: Protecting Marine Mammals while Protecting National Security." This presentation will provide an overview of current Navy marine mammal research and modeling. The Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, RI is not only heavily involved in field studies but also conducts all the marine mammal acoustic effects modeling for the Navy. This presentation will further describe how the Navy uses this research to develop parameters within which to train and operate, with the ultimate goal of providing realistic training for our operational forces while also protecting the marine environment.